lives in the shallow weedy edges
- Size
- Length: 5–8 cm, Weight: 5–10 g
- Lifespan
- 2–3 years
- Diet
- Small insects crustaceans and zooplankton. Lives in small coastal streams wetlands and drainage ditches. Picks prey from surface or weed beds in shallow water.
- Habitat
- Small coastal streams wetlands and even drainage ditches as long as water is fresh still or slow-moving and full of insects. Fish of the shallow edge.
- Range
- Throughout North and South Islands in lowland wetlands and small coastal streams. Most common in shallow weedy water with slow or still flow in lowland areas.
- Endemism
- Endemic
- Main Threats
- Habitat loss from wetland drainage and stream modification. Water pollution from agricultural and urban runoff. Predation by introduced fish. Climate change affecting water.
- Population
- Not Threatened. Common throughout New Zealand especially in lowland wetlands and small coastal streams. Small size and preference for shallow weedy water has protected them.
- Conservation Status
- Not Threatened
- Human Risk
- harmless
- Handling Note
- native freshwater fish, harmless to humans, leave undisturbed
- Conservation Note
- Endemic freshwater fish; widespread in streams and rivers throughout New Zealand.
- Assessment
- NZTCS Freshwater Fishes (2023)
- Te Ao Māori
- The Dwarf Galaxias does not have a widely recorded Māori name. This is likely because it was too small to be worth naming separately. Today it is the fish of the roadside ditch. You see it flickering in the shallows as you walk past. It is a tiny silvery flash that most people never notice. Even fewer appreciate it. Its obscurity reflects its size rather than its ecological value. It remains a persistent presence in modified landscapes. Mana whenua observe these small indicators of wetland health.
The smallest member of the galaxiid family. It rarely grows longer than a thumb. The body is slender and slightly compressed. It has a small pointed snout and a mouth full of tiny teeth. The colour is muted olive-brown to golden. A faint darker stripe often runs along the sides. It is not a flashy fish. It does not need to be. It lives in the shallows. It hides in weeds and darts between rocks. A fish that disappears when looked at.
Micro-predators of the wetland edge. Dwarf galaxias feed on tiny insects crustaceans and zooplankton. They pick them off the surface of the water or out of weed beds. They are not strong swimmers. They prefer still shallow water where they can hover and wait for food to drift past. They are also excellent jumpers. They can skip across the surface of water to escape predators. A fish that can fly when it needs to.
The fish of the forgotten wetland. They live in ditches drains and the few remaining natural wetlands. They do what they have always done. They are not glamorous. They are not famous. They are not particularly pretty. But they are tough adaptable and surprisingly widespread.
To find a dwarf galaxias is to find a survivor. It is a tiny silvery fish in a shallow weedy ditch. It is a reminder that even the smallest creatures have a place in the world. It is the fish of the roadside ditch. You see it flickering in the shallows as you walk past. It is a tiny silvery flash that most people never notice. Even fewer appreciate it.
The ditch is shallow. The water is brown. The dwarf galaxias darts between the weeds. It is a silver flicker in the murk. The truck rumbles past. The driver does not see it.
The fish does not care. It has survived drainage. It has survived pollution. It has survived the slow destruction of its home. It will survive this truck too. Probably.